Five members of ASOTRECOL, the Association of Injured and Ex-Workers of General Motors Colombia, launched a hunger strike on Wednesday, August 1st outside the U.S. embassy in Colombia to demand that GM justly compensate, provide medical care, and reintegrate workers that were fired upon suffering work-related injuries,and recognize ASOTRECOL as a union. Four more members joined on day eight. As proof of their commitment, the workers have sewn their mouths shut and plan to carry out the hunger strike to the death.

Since August 2011, the workers have lived in tents in front of the U.S. embassy in Bogotá to voice their demands. ASOTRECOL’s struggle reflects the failure of the 2011 Labor Action Plan to defend workers’ rights—a $2 million program paid for by U.S. taxpayers and a condition of the free-trade agreement between the United States and Colombia. By ignoring ASOTRECOL’s demands for justice, General Motors and the U.S. government perpetuate the violent conditions that make Colombia the most dangerous country in the world for labor organizers. The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) documented 29 trade unionist murders, 10 attempted murders, and 342 death threats in 2011. Private security firms have harassed and surveilled ASOTRECOL.

The hunger strike of ASOTRECOL is a struggle to defend the right of all disabled and able-bodied workers to collective bargaining, safe working conditions, and medical compensation.